Gerry (2002)

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writers (WGA):

Casey Affleck (written by) &
Matt Damon (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 September 2002 (Greece)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

A friendship between two twenty-something men is tested to its very limits when they go on a hike in a desert and forget to bring any water or food with them. |

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Friendship | Water | Existentialism | Campfire

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Casey Affleck	...	Gerry
Matt Damon	...	Gerry

Directed by
Gus Van Sant

Writing credits (WGA)
Casey Affleck		(written by) &
Matt Damon		(written by) &
Gus Van Sant		(written by)

Produced by
Jay Hernandez	....	associate producer
Dany Wolf	....	producer

Original Music by
Arvo Pärt

Cinematography by
Harris Savides

Film Editing by
Casey Affleck
Matt Damon
Gus Van Sant

Makeup Department
Chris Burgoyne	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Diego Conejero	....	production manager: Argentina
Jen Wall	....	production supervisor
Dany Wolf	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sally Sue Beisel	....	second assistant director
Dany Wolf	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Felix Andrew	....	sound mixer
Todd Beckett	....	sound re-recording mixer
Stuart Deutsch	....	boom operator
Goro Koyama	....	foley artist
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
Tim Rakoczy	....	assistant sound editor
Leslie Shatz	....	sound designer
Leslie Shatz	....	supervising sound editor
Don White	....	foley recording mixer
Rebecca Wright	....	foley assistant

Special Effects by
Joshua Kornoff	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Syd Dutton	....	special visual effects: Illusion Arts
Janos Pilenyi	....	optical supervisor
Bill Taylor	....	special visual effects: Illusion Arts
Mamie McCall	....	visual effects coordinator: Illusion Arts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Chris Blauvelt	....	assistant camera
Mike Blauvelt	....	third assistant camera
Anthony Cady	....	grip (as Tony Cady)
Christian Davidson	....	grip
Drew Davidson	....	grip (as Andrew Davidson)
Jamie Franta	....	grip
Alice Gu	....	assistant camera
Pablo Gómez	....	second assistant camera
Mark Hyde	....	grip
Jim Kwiatkowski	....	key grip
John Mang	....	dolly grip
Jason McCormick	....	assistant camera
Brady McElroy	....	grip
Matías Mesa	....	Steadicam operator
Bud Scott	....	best boy grip

Editorial Department
Lilah Bankier	....	assistant editor
Don Ciana	....	color timer
John Dowdell	....	hd colorist
Patricia Sztaba	....	negative cutter
Stan Sztaba	....	negative cutter
Joe Violante	....	dailies advisor
Paul Zucker	....	associate editor
Cory Ginsburg	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Jeff Eveleth	....	production assistant
Trinette L. Faint	....	assistant: Mr. Damon (as Trinette Faint)
Roger D. Faires	....	location manager
Danielle Fenati	....	production assistant
Joeby Gibson	....	production assistant
Andrew K. Hodge	....	location manager
Mary Jasionowski	....	production accountant: Los Angeles
Damon Zwicker	....	production assistant

Thanks
Bobby Bukowski	....	thanks
Ken Kesey	....	in memory of
Béla Tarr	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Epsilon Motion Pictures
• My Cactus

Distributors

• Elephant Picture (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• GAGA (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Independent Films (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• MK2 Diffusion (France) (theatrical)
• Pathé (2003) (UK) (theatrical)
• Rosebud (2003) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Slovenska Kinoteka (2003) (Slovenia) (theatrical)
• Cinematografica Distributori Indipendenti (CDI)
• Echo Bridge Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• GAGA (2002) (Japan) (all media)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Miramax Films (2003) (USA) (video)
• Odeon (2003) (Greece) (video)
• PlazaVista Entertainment (2005) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• THINKFilm (2003) (USA)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Altara Films  production services: Argentina
• International Traders  production services: Jordan
• Saul Zaentz Film Center  sound re-recording and post-production

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A | Netherlands:AL | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Argentina

Company:

Epsilon Motion Pictures

Trivia:

The film opens without any company credits, no actor or director credits, and not even the title of the movie (except for the Miramax Films logo in non-theatrical prints).

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie when Gerry is lying on his back, his legs change from flat to bent and back again. This obviously could not possibly happen due to his condition.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gerry:Hey, Gerry, the path.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saltlake Van Sant (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Für Alina

"Gerry" is "Desert Seinfeld,' where it is really about nothing and nothing really happens.

"Desert Seinfeld,' where it is really about nothing and nothing really happens. It's Gus Van Sant's `Gerry,' not for Jerry Seinfeld, but for two young men, both named Gerry, who get lost while taking a hike on the `Wilderness Trail.'

Comparisons to Beckett's `Waiting for Godot' and Antonioni's `Passenger' will occur the minute you see Casey Affleck and Matt Damon striking out to see a `thing' somewhere on the trail in an arid Arizona or South Dakota (although expertly filmed in Argentina and Utah). The only way the DP could improve on the landscape was to time-lapse clouds and sunrises, and do some slick digitizing when a character jumps from a very high rock.

The long takes are spectacular, especially when Damon tries to extricate Affleck from the top of that `no-exit' rock. I was as pleased with the static camera and minimal editing as I often am with the realist work of Mike Leigh, who usually has much more dialogue than this minimalist film. In fact, except for the tinkling piano and violin coming in 3 times, `Gerry' could be a `Dogma' candidate.

Van Sant has directed an existential piece to rival last year's `No Man's Land,' about the Bosnian soldier imprisoned on top of a spring-loaded land mine. Van Sant here questions the men's understanding of themselves or each other (their 'f**k you's' are lightly given and taken and they see one of themselves in a mirage).

By the end of the journey, they have been appropriately humbled by a powerful Nature that threatens with distant thunder but never delivers water or lightning. Whatever the `thing' they set out to find, like Estragon and Vladimir in `Godot,' they do find the essential elements of life-birth, love, and death.

That's pretty good for a film with no more than a paragraph of dialogue in all. This is one of those films that make a patient man of me and drives my plot-driven friends back to Ahnold.